Personal banking with a latte

The Bank of New Zealand is trying one of its most radical experiments yet with the traditional bank branch.

Gone is the centre-stage teller line and the waiting area outside bankers' private offices. Instead, the inside of its Quay Park branch looks like a cafe.

It also sounds and smells like one as it revolves around a Wishbone cafe.

It has monitors that run promotional videos, an internet kiosk and a free wireless network. Cafe-style booths replace private bankers' offices.

There's still a teller line, but computer monitors swivel so the customer can view the screen alongside bank staff.

It's the new BNZ "concept store" and it will ultimately replace more of the company's branches nationwide.

It has already opened two other such centres in Rolleston and the Remarkables.

Chris Bayliss, BNZ's retail banking general manager, says the store aims to be such a radical change from the traditional branch that if the branding was removed, "you wouldn't know you were in a bank".

The branch-based banking paradigm has changed - but not in line with the strategy most banks have been rolling out from the mid-1990s.

Then, bankers peppered cities with automated teller machines and tried to push branch customers to the internet and telephone banking.

But Bayliss says this overlooked the human enjoyment of interaction with other people.

Now, he says, "banks need to coexist in the high street with other retailers.

"We don't want to be in the quiet corner of the shopping mall - we want to be part of a vibrant retail experience."